Always There
by ColorLover123
Summary: The Cahills have come together to become more unified. They just need to get past their old rivalries in order to do so. This won't be easy. (A rewrite of my old story, Cahill Bonding)


Amy was vacuuming the family room rug for what was probably the fifth time that morning. She had been busy cleaning the mansion for the past few hours, starting directly after Fiske told her, Dan, and Nellie that the rest of the children from the Clue Hunt would be visiting for a couple of weeks, starting today. And considering she lived with Dan, she had plenty of preparing to do.

Said boy was currently in his room, "cleaning." Or rather, he was in his room throwing things into a corner while playing a game on his phone. And was he looking forward to this "family reunion"? Somewhat. He couldn't wait to see Hamilton and Jonah and Phoenix, but he was dreading the arrival of the Cobras, Ian and Natalie. The two siblings were invited by Fiske, coughthreatenedcough, and would be unfortunately be arriving with the rest of their relatives.

Most of the younger generation from the clue hunt would be coming, as in the Holt kids, the Starlings, Jonah and his cousin Phoenix and the Kabras. And they were all expected to arrive at noon, which was only an hour away.

What Dan couldn't comprehend was why they not only had to all stay in the same house, which would surely lead to some sort of disaster, but why they would be forced to also do "bonding" activities for an hour each day.

In the time it would take most people to clean their entire room twice, Dan had only just managed to finish throwing away all the soda cans that had littered the area by his computer. By the time he had started to gather the dirty laundry that was dispelled around the room, the doorbell was ringing downstairs.

Amy stopped her cleaning-she had finally moved on to dusting for the past half hour-to answer the door, hoping dearly that it was not the arrival of the Cahills. Sadly, when she opened the door, there stood her family: the Holts, the Starlings, the Wizards, and the Kabras, all of who were glaring at each other suspiciously while shifting uncomfortably.

"Hi, uh why don't you all come inside?" Amy stepped back, allowing everyone to pass. The awkward atmosphere only seemed to increase once Dan came down and found himself standing in front of the Kabra siblings. Himself and Natalie were soon having one of those stare down things cats have with their prey, while Ian found himself looking at Amy, who was stubbornly avoiding his gaze.

Sinead and Hamilton glared at each other from across the room, Sinead speaking to Jonah and Hamilton talking with Dan. It had been two years since the Clue Hunt and they were still fighting.

Madison and Reagan stood next to each other, whispering quietly. Every once in a while they would look over at someone and softly giggle, smirks adorning their faces. Close by were Ned and Ted Starling. One was holding a blueprint for the two to look at, though every minute or so they would look over at the Holt twins, their faces laced with confusion and some strange emotion that couldn't quite be placed.

Taking her role as host, (really, both Dan and Amy were the hosts, but everyone knew Dan wouldn't really do anything,) Amy walked to the front of the room where she could see everyone. They all looked at her with suspicion and slight undertones of anger. Amy cleared her throat and began to address her family.

"Hello everyone, thank you all for coming. Uh, Fiske has called everyone here because it's been a couple years since the Clue Hunt and he seems to think that the branches are still divided. So, since we are the next generation, we need to come together and learn to work with each other, regardless of branch," she said this with a pointed look at Sinead and Hamilton. "Starting tomorrow, every day from four to five, we will be doing bonding activities Filch has planned out for us. I have no idea what he has planned for each day, so please don't ask," Hamilton closed his mouth. "We luckily have plenty of extra rooms so the room assignments are as follows:" she pulled out a piece of paper from her back pocket. "Phoenix will stay with Jonah, Hamilton with Ian, and Ned with Ted are all on the second floor. You will all be just down the hall from Dan. And for the girls, Madison and Reagan and Natalie are together, and Sinead's with me. We're all on the third floor." There were some protests, the majority of which were coming from Natalie, but everyone soon accepted their room assignments. Slowly, everyone went to their rooms to unpack.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for everyone to unpack and soon all the Cahills were sitting in the living room, some drinking hot chocolate, others coffee, all invested in their own conversations. Surprisingly enough, Ned and Ted Starling both settled near the Holt twins, who were currently having a very animated discussion about when soccer tryouts were for the approaching school year. However, their discussion came to a halt once the two Ekaterinas sat down on the other end of the couch.<p>

"Hello ladies!" one of the said brightly, sipping his hot chocolate. They wore nearly identical outfits- dark jeans, a sweater vest, and a white dress shirt- except this one was wearing a dark blue vest, while his brother was wearing a forest green shade.

"How are you today?" the one in green asked, identical smiles gracing both their features.

"Fine," Madison said curtly before turning back to her sister and resuming their conversation, both girls pretending the brothers weren't even there.

Said brothers shared a look, their smiles faltering slightly.

This was going to be difficult.

* * *

><p>Amy sipped at her coffee. Almost as soon as she came down she had seated herself on the loveseat in the corner of the room and began a new book, blocking out the, thankfully, quiet chatter of her cousins. She hadn't gotten very far into said book when Ian came and sat beside her, his own book in hand.<p>

"What are you reading?" he asked quietly, not looking up from his book.

"_A Little Princess_," she replied, also refusing to remove her eyes from the pages.

"How are you liking it?"

"It's fine." A long pause. "What are you reading?"

"_Hamlet_."

"I like that one."

"As do I."

They finished their drinks in silence.

* * *

><p>Natalie sat on the plush sofa near the fireplace, flipping through a magazine. Sensing someone by her, she looked up into the bright eyes of Dan.<p>

"Hey Natalie," he said, offering her a mug. "Want some hot chocolate?" She glanced between the mug and Dan, distrusting of anything the young prankster offers her, before finally accepting it.

"Thank you, Dan." Dan nodded before taking a seat beside her, drinking from his own mug and avoiding all eye contact.

"No problem."

* * *

><p><strong>Well? Different, I know. I hope that people will give this story a chance, and accept my different writing style. I'll update as often as possible, but it still won't be terribly often. If there's anything specific you would like to see in this story, feel free to let me know! Also, this story will disregard everything after the tenth book.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own The 39 Clues or any other brands or products mentioned in this story.**


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